Damn It
by you.and.only.you
Summary: Emily thinks about what happened in her car at the end of "The New Normal"
1. Chapter 1

_Don't tell_.

Emily's sat there stunned and confused, with a whole slew of other feelings coursing through her. Robotically, she started her car and pulled out of the school parking lot, staring blankly through the windshield as she tried to cease all thought pertaining to what had just happened until she was back home and in her room.

As she opened the front door her mother called from the living room.

"Emily? What took you so long?"

"Oh..just got caught up with Coach"

Emily closed her eyes briefly and inhaled. She'd talk with her mother first, and then start working on this whole Paige debacle. She stepped into the living room and gave a small smile to her mom who was sitting on the couch. The older Fields woman patted the cushion beside her, motioning for Emily to take a seat. As Emily sat down there was a moment of silence, neither of the two quite knowing what to say or how to say it.

"I am trying you know" said Mrs. Fields suddenly.

"I know mom, and I really hope you know what that means to me"

"Right...well, the dishwasher isn't going to unload itself"

With that Mrs. Fields got off and began making her way to the kitchen.

"Mom wait"

Just as her mother turned around Emily pulled her into a hug. The pair weren't the best at talking or listening to one another, but the embrace said all that needed to be said.

* * *

Emily hit the back of her head against her headboard, eliciting a thud as she hit the rails. She had put this off long enough. She had showered, brushed her hair several times, brushed her teeth and took her sweet time finding her favourite grey pyjama shorts and a slightly oversized shirt to wear to bed.

As she closed her eyes, the few minutes in her car flashed behind her eyes, with a great focus on the surprise kiss Paige had given her.

"But she's straight" she mumbled, tilting her head back into the headboard once more.

_Ali was "straight" too_ said the small voice in the back of her head.

Emily wasn't sure what the kiss was meant to convey. Was it Paige's way of telling her she was gay? Did it mean she had actual feelings for her? While Paige had been a royal bitch once Emily had returned, Emily could see how having a father like that could make losing her slot in the relay that much worse. But whether or not Paige had feelings for her didn't change the fact that somewhere, at some godforsaken camp, there was Maya. Her girlfriend. The one that had helped her finally accept who she was. The one that had given her a second chance after she hurt her at homecoming.

_She was also the one who didn't sound entirely thrilled to hear your voice when you called _

As soon as Maya had left Spencer's house the night before she was sent away, Emily missed her. By the time Caleb gave her the new and improved phone, she practically craved the other girl like a drug, so the reaction she received from her surprise phone call was less than she was hoping for. But it was probably because she was miserable out in the woods. Or at least that's what Emily was hoping.

"Stupid Paige" she mumbled.

If she hadn't ambushed her in her car and kissed her, Emily wouldn't be over thinking everything. Emily was irritated that in one moment, Paige had messed up what the kinda-almost balanced schema of her life...well aside from that psycho A. Even her mom seemed to be coming around, something that made it a little more difficult to be mad at the woman for having Maya shipped off to camp with the grizzlies.

Emily sat up straight, with a hint of the infamous Fields determination etched on her face. She wasn't going to let this girl do that to her. The girl who had tried to make her life on the swim team a living hell as soon as the threat of competition arose wasn't going to throw her off that easily. It would take a lot more to shake Emily Fields. It would take more than a girl with a confident exterior, an emerging gentle side, brown eyes...

"Damn it"


	2. Chapter 2

So I've decided to expand this little story beyond it just being a one-shot. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but it's my University's reading week, so hopefully you'll get some pretty frequent updates. I'm not totally sure where this is going, but I'll figure it out eventually ;D.

* * *

_Shut up, shut up, shut up _

Emily silently willed the alarm to stop blaring, but apparently the clock just wasn't getting the message. With what felt like all her strength, Emily lifted her arm and blindly smacked at her bed side table until she successfully hit the snooze button. She slowly sat up and pushed her dark locks from her eyes, tiredly looking around the room. Despite being able to sleep in for once, seeing as the swim team was getting the morning off after their meet a couple towns over, Emily still felt exhausted. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached for her phone.

"Nothing..." she breathed.

No messages, no missed calls...nothing. She was half expecting to see some ominous message from A about what had happened between her and Paige, which was most definitely the last thing she needed at this point.

The smell of pancakes wafted up to her room, causing a small smile to grace her lips. Ever since things had gotten tense in the Fields' household, Mrs. Fields had always made a point of leaving the house before Emily was up, leaving food out on the table to be warmed up if need be. But it seemed that due to their semi-make-up/mutual understanding or whatever yesterday was, Mrs. Fields was making a gesture that said things would be okay.

Emily threw on some jeans and a tank top from her room before making a stop at the basket of clean clothes at the top of the stairs for her red, off the shoulder shirt. After running a brush through her hair and brushing her teeth, she took the stairs two at a time and walked into the kitchen with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"It smells great mom"

"Oh so you are up, here, sit and start on these pancakes, I'll grab the juice"

"Are you staying for breakfast..or...?"

"Well I do have to get to the bank before the lines get to long, but I guess I could finish off my coffee first"

The smile that had been tugging on her lips had now emerged as the pair shared their breakfast in a comfortable silence.

"Thanks again mom"

"Emily, it's like I said yesterday, no one hurts my child. Now, I've got to run, but if Nick or anyone gives you trouble, you'll tell me this time?"

"Yes mom"

Mrs. Fields smiled and kissed her daughter's head before grabbing her purse and heading out the door.

* * *

Emily pulled her Corolla into the school parking lot, managing to get a decent spot. She threw her messenger bag over her shoulder and headed into the school. She kept glancing around the halls as she walked, although she wasn't sure if she was looking for her friends, or Paige.

"There you are Em!" called Hannah from the end of hall.

Smiling in acknowledgment, Emily made her way towards Hannah, Aria and Spencer.

"Hey so we heard that Paige's dad tried to pull the same crap on you after your meet yesterday" said Spencer, concern evident in her voice.

Emily looked down and awkwardly adjusted her bag with a shrug.

"Yeah, it's no big deal, my uh, my mom took care of it"

"That's great Em...right?" said Spencer.

"Yeah, I mean it's great that my mom's coming around, but I just wish it didn't take some parent bullying her kid to knock some sense into her" she said with another shrug.

Aria looped her arm through Emily's and gave a tug as they started off for their math class, leaving Spencer and Hannah to go to their classes.

"Hey, if anyone tries to give you trouble we're here for you, always" she said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, thank Mr. Fitz for me? He stopped Paige's dad before he could _completely_ humiliate me"

"Will do, and how many times do I have to tell you, it's Ezra"

"To you? Sure, I'll stick with Mr. Fitz though" said Emily with a laugh.

* * *

Their math teacher was a complete control freak, which meant absolutely no talking. Without Aria to distract her, Emily's mind began to go into overdrive. Overdrive meaning on a non-stop loop of last night's kiss, and trying to dissect its meaning. Although with the dissection, came the confirmation that she had enjoyed the kiss, and wouldn't be opposed to it happening again. She hadn't seen Paige yet, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The one thing Emily was sure of was that when they did see each other, awkward wouldn't even begin to describe it.

"Em! Helloooo"

Suddenly a hand was waving in front of her face.

"Huh?"

"Jeeze, there you are, you were completely zoned out, class is over, come on it's time for English" said Aria, taking hold of her arm again and tugging.

Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. Her friend's infatuation with their English teacher was adorable. Plus, Hannah and Spencer were in the class too, which meant maybe they'd be able to keep her from zoning out again. Maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

Anyone else disappointed with the lack of Emily/Paige on tonight's episode? Blah, I'm pretty sad about it. I kept waiting and waiting for SOMETHING...but...NADDA

Anywhoooo, enjoy :)

* * *

Emily quickly packed up her books and pens from her desk and headed out of her class. It was finally lunch and so far the day had been unbelievably stressful. Despite having her three best friends in English with her, Emily still managed to successfully zone out, and the same could be said for the break and class that followed. She made a quick stop at her locker, haphazardly tossing her bag inside before making her way to the cafeteria. She filled her tray and immediately spotted Aria, Hanna and Spencer and made her way over to them. As she was about to set her tray down someone gently bumped into her shoulder.

"Oh sorry" said Emily and the other person at the same time.

With that both pairs of eyes turned around to see who they'd hit.

"Paige"

"Emily"

Just as Emily predicted, the situation was awkward beyond belief. Paige opened her mouth to say something, but quickly turned on her heel and sped away.

"Ok, what was that about?" asked Hanna.

"Is she giving you trouble again, because like I said before, I will destroy her" added Spencer.

"No, it's nothing" said Emily, taking her seat with the other girls.

Her three friends shared a sceptical look before changing the subject, knowing they'd have time to question Emily later.

* * *

Emily jogged across the nearly empty parking lot, silently cursing her chemistry teacher for keeping her so late after school. She had gone in for some review before an upcoming test, but that teacher just didn't know when to stop talking. She quickly got into her car and began speeding home. She was supposed to meet up with the girls at Spencer's house shortly and she still had to pick up Hanna. As she pulled into her driveway she sent a quick text to Hanna.

**Hey, I just got outta chem help, I'll be by in like 20 minutes, just gotta pack a bag **

Just as Emily opened her front door her phone started to buzz.

**No prob, I'll just head over to your place n save you the trip. **

Emily typed out a quick agreement and rushed inside to get ready. Her mother was out but had left a note stuck to her door reminding her not to come home too late the next day and to be safe. Emily rolled her eyes with a smile and quickly started throwing in everything she'd need for the night. The doorbell rang, startling Emily; it was odd that Hanna would already be at her door. With a shrug she picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder before heading downstairs to let her friend in.

"Oh crap did I pack my toothbrush?" she asked herself.

She opened the door as she was digging through her bag, not bothering to look up.

"Hey Hanna, we'll head out in just a sec-"

"I'm not Hanna..." said a voice definitely not belonging to Hanna.

Startled, Emily looked up, only to be face-to-face with Paige McCullers.

"I would've called, but I wasn't sure if you would have answered your phone" she started.

It took a moment for Emily to find her voice before she could bring herself out of her seemingly dumbfounded state.

"I would have answered...do you want to come in for a sec?" asked Emily, stepping aside to let Paige in.

"It's alright...I just wanted to apologize... I was stupid and it was stupid and-"

"It's fine, I mean, I get it...it's tough" Emily said, not quite knowing what else to say.

The pair stood in silence for what felt like hours. Emily glanced up at Paige, noticing the other girl looking incredibly uncomfortable, and almost afraid.

"Well..yeah I should...yeah" said Paige as she started to turn around.

Before Paige could get anywhere, Emily wrapped her arms around the other girl's neck and rested her face on her shoulder. It took Paige only a moment before her arms wrapped around Emily's waist, loosely at first, before softly pulling her closer.

"It's gonna be alright, just believe that" mumbled Emily against Paige's shoulder.

The two pulled apart slowly, stopping when their faces were mere inches from one another. Cautiously, both girls started leaning in simultaneously. Emily closed her eyes as she felt Paige's breath wash over her face.

"Oh man" came a voice belonging to neither of the two.

Emily and Paige bolted apart in the blink of an eye, and looked at the bottom of the porch. Hanna was standing there, jaw practically unhinged at what she had just seen.

"Hey, say the word and I can make another lap around the block if you want" she said, breaking the silence.

Paige glanced at Emily with a look of pure fear on her face before jumping off the porch and starting across the lawn. Emily looked to Hanna, mumbling a quick "wait here" before heading after the other girl. She latched onto Paige's wrist and spun her around, her heart nearly breaking at the sight of Paige's now tear-stained cheeks.

"Hanna won't tell, I swear" said Emily.

"Yeah? And how the hell do you know that!" spat Paige.

"Because...she knew about me before Aria or Spencer or my family, she knows when a secret needs to be a secret, **trust me**" said Emily, her grip on Paige's wrist loosening.

"Promise?" asked Paige, her voice cracking slightly, making her sound as broken as she looked.

"Promise" confirmed Emily with a sympathetic smile.

Paige nodded and gave Emily one last glance before turning around and heading home. Emily thought about offering her a ride home seeing as the other girl was without her bike, but she didn't even want to think about the weirdness that would result from her, Hanna and Paige sharing a car ride after what had just happened. With a sigh she walked back across her lawn and towards a rather smug looking Hanna. Just as the blonde was about to open her mouth Emily held up a hand.

"Make any sort of innuendo and you're walking to Spencer's"

Hanna held up her hands in surrender. She'd get the details out of Emily soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

The ride to Spencer's had been relatively silent, the only noise coming from the radio which Hanna continuously surfed through to find a decent song.

"Sooo...Paige McCullers?" asked Hanna, shifting in her seat to face Emily.

"It's nothing, I'm with Maya, remember?"

"So let's pretend Maya isn't acting completely weird anytime you call her. Why did I see you almost kissing Paige then?"

"I didn't almost kiss her...it was mutual" said Emily, mumbling the last part.

"Mhmmm, I hope you plan on dishing a little more than that, Aria and Spencer are gonna be interrogating you about today at lunch...OH MY GOD, is that why things were so weird?"

"Can we not talk about it?" sighed Emily as they pulled into Spencer's driveway.

"Em, you can tell us anything, you know that right?"

"Of course I know that, it's just that this isn't just my secret Hanna"

With that the girls got out of the car and made their way into Spencer's living room where Aria and Spencer were sprawled on the couch.

"Jeeze, finally" said Spencer, sitting up slowly.

"Sorry, Emily just got a bit distracted" said Hanna, tossing her bag onto a chair.

"Speaking of Emily...what was the deal between you and Paige at school?" asked Aria.

At that point Hanna coughed, which happened to sound a lot like "I told you so". Emily glared at the blonde before taking a seat on the table across from the other two.

"Ok look, I can't tell you everything that's going on right now between us..."

"Oh come on, I told you about Ezra and I" pleaded Aria.

"Fine, but you guys have to swear you won't say anything"

With that Hanna let out a little squeal of approval and hopped onto the couch between Spencer and Aria.

"Swear" said all three simultaneously.

"Well when I was getting into my car last night after a meet Paige kind of ambushed me and hopped in my car, she wanted to talk but I guess she figured that way would be the most private."

Emily looked up from her hands to her three friends; all three had started leaning forward, as if they were literally hanging onto to each word. Ignoring her friends' behaviour Emily took a breath before continuing.

"She started going on about how easy everything was for me, I guess because she saw my mom stick up to her dad. Well that just sent me off on a huge rant about how she had it all wrong and mid sentence she kind of stopped me"

"Stopped you how?" asked Spencer.

"She sort of kissed me"

"WHAT!" shrieked the other three.

"Paige McCullers?" asked Aria.

"Girl who had psycho homophobe written all over her" added Spencer.

Hanna simply gave Emily a look; she could tell it was referring to what Hanna had interrupted before coming to Spencer's.

"So wait do you like her?" asked Aria.

"What do you mean does she like her? How...wait DO you like her?" asked Spencer.

"I-well-I-"

"Oh my god you do!" Hanna practically shouted.

"GUYS! I don't know, okay? I'm just so mixed up. I mean Maya had been acting beyond weird on the phone, and I highly doubt you can blame it on camping with the grizzlies, and at first Paige was some bitch who wanted me gone, but she can actually be kind of sweet" said Emily, suddenly finding her hands quite interesting.

"Aww Em" said Aria, bringing her in for a group hug.

"You'll figure it out, we'll help you any way we can okay?" said Hanna.

* * *

Several hours had passed and the four girls were lying around in Spencer's bed, flipping through magazines. All four jumped when one their phones suddenly began to ring.

"Relax guys, it's an incoming call" said Emily, fishing her phone from her pocket.

Her face immediately lit up when she say Maya's name and picture fill up her screen. She quickly hopped off the bed and stepped outside of Spencer's room.

"Hey there" she said sofly.

"Emily, hey" came an even softer reply.

"I miss you..."

"Yeah, I miss you too"

"How are you even calling me? I thought the only way I could get through was if I called."

"Yeah, they unblocked my phone temporarily, so I could make some calls"

"What kind of calls?"

"Ones to people that 'helped get me in here', it's part of the 'getting my life back on track' stuff they make us do here"

"So why call me?"

"Well you're not one of those people, but I figured I should use this opportunity to call you and ...you know...talk"

"About anything in particular?"

"Don't hate me, promise?"

"Maya, what are you talking about? I could never hate you"

"I've been thinking..."

"Oh no, Maya don't, I can already see where this is headed"

At that point the three girls in the other room started to pick up on Emily's end of the conversation as her voice started getting progressively louder and desperate.

"Em, please, I just think we should take a break until I get home."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Baby, I just think it would help me get out of here faster, get back to Rosewood and you, if I was completely focused on jumping through all the ridiculous hoops they're putting me through."

"Why can't you do that and still be with me?" Emily asked through sniffles as tears started to well in her eyes.

"It's just hard Em"

"Please don't do this, I need you."

At that point Emily had broken down; tears ran freely as she choked out each word.

"When I get back we can figure things out, you know see if we should still be together"

"Oh god, you met someone else didn't you? God Maya, please, no"

"Em, please just listen, for now just let me go, just over 2 months and we can get back on track"

"Oh so you want to play with your new...whatever while you're there, and then expect me to welcome you back, please"

"Emily, there's no one else, and I really do care about you, but if I want to make the progress they're looking for to get out of here it's something I need to do, even if it breaks my heart. That's why I've been acting like such a bitch whenever you called, I wanted you to hate me or something..."

"Maya..."

"I'll talk to you later? Or see you later...whichever comes first"

With that, a click signalled the end of the call. Emily dropped her phone and slid down the wall in the hallway until her head fell into her knees. Aria, Spencer and Hanna rushed out of the room when they realized Emily wasn't coming back in.

"Em, sweetie..." began Hanna.

"She...she.." sobbed Emily.

"Shhh, we're here, come on, come back into my room" said Spencer, gently taking Emily by the arm, pulling her up and leading her into her room and onto her bed.

The three friends exchanged sad glances as they watched one of their best friends lay broken and crying, it was going to be a long, tearful and painful night.


	5. Chapter 5

It was now Sunday afternoon and Emily was curled up under the covers of her bed, her iPod on a loop of all the songs that reminded her of Maya. She had spent Friday night and Saturday morning in Spencer's bed, being comforted by her three best friends. Once she had successfully cried until there just weren't any tears left, she headed home and went straight to her room. Her mother would periodically come in and try to get Emily to tell her what had happened, but to no avail. A light knock at the door signaled that Pam was back to try and talk to her daughter for what seemed like the thousandth time that afternoon.

"Emily, I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened. Did you and the girls get into a fight?"

Emily rolled her eyes, although since her back was to her mother, the elder woman couldn't see.

"No mom, it's stupid"

"Nothing that makes my daughter this upset is stupid" said Mrs. Fields, taking a seat on the edge of her daughter's bed and gently placing a hand on Emily's back.

"She dumped me" mumbled Emily.

It took Mrs. Fields a moment to process what her daughter had just said. A week ago she would have been secretly thrilled that her daughter's relationship with Maya was over, but seeing how hurt and upset her daughter was only made the news break the mother's heart.

"Oh sweetie, it's okay. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Emily sat up slowly and rubbed her reddened eyes before filling her mother in on Friday night's events, leaving out everything related to Paige. While Mrs Fields wasn't quite sure what to say that would make her daughter feel better, she listened intently, knowing that this was the first time she and her daughter had talked like this in an extraordinarily long time. Once Emily reached the end of her story, tears that she didn't think she still had started to spill from her eyes. Only when her mother wrapped her arms around her heartbroken daughter did the young girl begin to sob once again.

* * *

The next morning Emily sat at her kitchen table, stirring her cereal in silence. She definitely hadn't regained her appetite yet, but she knew she couldn't swim on an empty stomach. With a sigh she forced herself to finish off the contents of the bowl before tossing it in the dishwasher. She stepped outside and pulled her jacket closer to her with a shiver. The sun was just starting to rise, and hadn't yet warmed up the air. Pulling into the school parking lot, and slamming her door shut, she made her way to the change room. Normally Emily looked forward to morning swim practices, or getting in a few laps by herself, but today, she wanted nothing more than to be curled up in her bed, away from the world. As she slammed her locker shut and was about to make her way to the pool, Paige appeared as if from thin air.

"Are you avoiding me?" she asked nervously

"No"

"I tried calling you a couple times but at first you didn't answer, then it just went straight to voicemail"

"I know, I turned it off"

"Wait, why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you okay? Not everything is about you!" snapped Emily, immediately regretting it.

"Fine"

"Paige wait, I'm sorry"

"Whatever"

At this point Paige was shuffling through her locker, not bothering to look at Emily.

"I had a rough weekend okay...Maya broke up with me"

At that moment Paige literally froze, her arm in her bag and her eyes focused on the back of her locker. She slowly turned to face Emily, looking a little guilty.

"I'm sorry Emily, I mean if it was because-" started Paige, referring to the kiss.

"No, it wasn't. She just wanted to, I don't even know why, but whatever...I'm over it"

"Don't lie to me Fields, you're not over it"

Emily shrugged and turned around, making her way to the pool to join the rest of the team for their Monday morning practice.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily glanced at the clock beside the pool as she pulled herself out of the water. The coach blew her whistle, signalling the end of their practice. She'd have to make her shower quick if she was going to make it to her first class on time. Emily quickly wrapped her towel around herself and followed her team to the change room. She was showered and dressed in record time and was now finishing up on her hair.

"Anyone using this spot?" asked Paige, referring to the empty space in front of the mirror beside Emily.

Emily simply shook her head as she ran some cream through her long, dark hair. Before Paige could say anything else she turned her hair dryer back on, brushing through her nearly dry hair as the warm air blew it around. Once she was satisfied, she began packing her belongings up from the counter and putting them back into her gym bag. She subtly looked back to the mirrors, watching Paige do some finishing touches on her makeup. With a sigh Emily tossed her gym bag over her shoulder and headed into the hallways to get her books ready for her class. She snaked through the other students as she made her way to her locker, trying her best not to get knocked around in the crowded halls.

"Em!"

Emily looked up from her locker and down the hall to see her 3 best friends coming over. She closed her eyes briefly, mentally prepping herself for her friends' support, which would no doubt bring her closer to tears. She had built her walls up high and thick for the day, but she knew any mention of Maya and their breakup could make it crumble.

"How are you?" asked Spencer, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, it's nothing really"

"Em..." said Aria, giving her a skeptical look.

"Guys, I can't even think about it right now to be honest" said Emily with a tired sigh.

"We get it, come on, let's go" said Hanna, giving her hand a squeeze.

* * *

The day had been far more bearable than Emily was expecting, which was no doubt thanks to her friends. All she had to do was get through chemistry and she'd be free to go home. While home certainly was better than school, Emily wasn't looking forward to spending the evening alone since her mother was going out and wouldn't be home until after midnight. Aria and Hanna were heading over to Spencer's to snoop around Ian's stuff a little more since he and Melissa were in Philadelphia for the next few days. While Emily had said she would go, her friends insisted that the unfolding Ian drama was the last thing she needed and that they'd update her later if they found anything. Emily shifted her focus from her teacher to the clock that had now seemed to slow down just to torture her.

"Alright, well we've gotten through everything I wanted to cover today, so you're free to go"

Emily couldn't have been more relieved for the early dismissal, the school day was finally over and she could go back and curl up in bed. As she was packing up her bags her phone beeped, signalling a text. Emily quickly fished it from her sweater pocket and opened the message from her Hanna about an assignment and quickly typed out a reply.

"Bad time?"

"What is it Paige?" asked Emily without turning around.

"No need to be such a bitch about" said Paige with a scoff.

"Sorry, I'm just really looking forward to going home" said Emily, locking her locker and turning to face Paige.

"So it IS a bad time"

"What do you need?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the other night, but I think you've got enough on your plate right about now"

Emily remained quiet and looked down at her shoes, shyly.

"So...later Fields"

"Paige? I know we're not on the best terms right now but Hanna and the others are busy and my mom's out of town until late tonight...I really just need someone around...a friend..."

Paige was silent for a moment, completely taken off guard by what Emily had just said.

"Yeah, I'll bring my books and we can do our homework"

"You want a ride?"

"Yeah"


	7. Chapter 7

Emily was leaning against her Corolla in the school parking lot, waiting for Paige. She smiled as she looked over and saw Spencer slow her car down beside her. Spencer rolled down her window as Hanna leaned over the center console and Aria rolled down the rear passenger window.

"What did we say Em? Go home and get some rest" said Spencer.

"Calm down, I'm waiting for someone"

"Ooooh, whooo?" asked Hanna with a teasing smile.

Emily rolled her eyes looked across the parking lot, spotting Paige making her way over. Her three friends followed her gaze, and all three quickly looked back at Emily, mimicking the teasing smile Hanna had had just moments ago.

"Hot date?" asked Aria.

"Ok, you guys can leave now" said Emily with a smile.

"Have fun...but you know, not too much" said Hanna with a wink.

Spencer pulled away as Paige made her way to Emily, a shy smile on her face as she reached the other girl. The two exchanged smiles and got into the car. Once they were buckled in and on their way Emily glanced at Paige.

"So, what do you want for dinner? We can order whatever" she said, running her hands nervously over her steering wheel.

"Whatever sounds good"

Emily shook her head with a smile as she pulled into her driveway. The two girls grabbed their bags and made their way into the house and up to Emily's room. As Emily started emptying her gym bag into her laundry basket, she looked back and watched as Paige inspected her room for the first time. The red head ran her fingers over the numerous ribbons and trophies that sat on Emily's desk, stopping to look at the pictures that covered it. Emily felt oddly relieved that she had tossed the pictures of her and Maya into a box and put it away for a day where she'd be able to deal with looking at them. Paige picked up the same picture that Maya had when she had first been in the room, the one of her, Ali and the others on a bright summer's day.

"I know Ali was your friend, but she kind of scared me" said Paige absent-mindedly.

"You? You were scared of Ali?" asked Emily with a tone of disbelief.

She found it hard to believe that someone like Paige would be scared of Ali. She could almost see Paige and Ali being friends. Paige simply shrugged and put the picture down before turning to Emily and leaning slightly on the desk.

"Want to get some homework out of the way?" she asked.

Emily nodded and started unloading the books from her bag. Within minutes the two girls were facing each other at opposite ends of the bed, their books opened in front of them.

"I don't know about you, but I'm way too hungry to focus" sighed Emily.

Paige looked up and laughed softly. The brunette looked so frustrated with her head in one hand and the other rapidly tapping a pencil against a textbook.

"We should've ordered when we left the school" said Paige.

Emily nodded in agreement and motioned for Paige to follow her. The pair headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Emily was hoping her mother had left something appetizing in the fridge so they wouldn't have to wait an hour for something to be delivered. She scanned the contents of the fridge quickly, taking a mental note of the possibilities.

"Alright, let's just take a little bit of everything" said Emily as she started pulling out dishes from the fridge.

Once everything was warmed up and the plates and cutlery were out, the girls sat at the island in the kitchen to enjoy their dinner. There was some pasta, salad, stir-fry, a little bit of everything. For the most part the girls ate in silence, only occasionally chancing glances at one another. When they were finished and the kitchen was cleaned up, the girls headed back upstairs.

"Thanks, it was good" said Paige, taking her seat on the bed.

"No problem, I'm pretty handy with a microwave"

Silence encircled the girls as they spent the next hour or so working on their homework.

"Ok, it's too quiet" said Emily, stretching her arms above her head as she got off the bed, her shirt riding up slightly.

She glanced over at Paige in time to see the red head staring and then avert her eyes. Emily bit her lip to hide the smile that was threatening to appear and quickly turned around to plug her iPod into her speakers. She grabbed the remote as she made her way over to the bed, pushing away her books and flopping down on her back across from Paige. The girl looked up and raised an eye brow.

"What? I'm done" said Emily fiddling with the remote.

Paige simply continued to write out her answers to an English assignment Mr. Fitz had given to all the classes, only losing focus when The Fray's _You Found Me_ started filling the room.

"Is it bugging you? I can turn it off if you want" said Emily, turning her head to the side.

"No" said Paige, softer than even she had expected.

"I love this song" sighed Emily, closing her eyes.

Paige tried to turn her attention back to her homework, but it just wasn't working. With a sigh she closed her books and started putting them on the floor, she had finished everything that was due the next day at least. Emily opened one eye and looked Paige, who was still leaning against the head board.

"You can lay down you know, I don't bite" she said in a teasing tone.

Although, Emily immediately wish she'd chosen a different phrase, as images started making their way into her brain, causing her to blush lightly. The two girls shuffled around until they were both lying side by side on the bed.

"How do you do it?" asked Paige suddenly.

"Do what exactly?"

"Be so comfortable with yourself"

"It takes time, and I'm still not completely happy with where I am, I'm still not the most outgoing person"

"You make it look so easy"

"Didn't we already cover this topic a few days ago?" asked Emily, turning to look at Paige.

"I'm not saying you have it easy, I'm saying you make it LOOK easy"

"Having good people around helps, I mean sure my mom's starting to warm up to this whole thing, but Aria, Spencer and Hanna had my back long before she did" said Emily

Paige simply nodded. Emily smiled; she could practically see the gears turning inside Paige's head. Paige looked at Emily with questioning look.

"What are you looking at?"

"You, you're thinking too hard" teased Emily.

Paige simply scoffed at the remark.

"Excuse me, did you just scoff at me?" said Emily, leaning on one arm.

"Maybe" said Paige, looking up at the ceiling and smiling

"Don't expect me to be nice to you anymore McCullers"

"Back at you Fields"

Both girls turned their heads to the sound of Emily's phone going off on the table beside Paige.

"Can you pass that?"

"Nope"

Emily let out a breath and pushed herself up, leaning over Paige in an attempt to get the phone and read the message. Emily stopped mid- reach at the sound of the red head's breath hitching. Emily looked down and bit her lip, something she'd been doing a lot lately.

"Sorry" she whispered.

Neither girl made an effort to move from their current position and just remained that way for a few moments before Emily slowly lowered her lips to Paige. Not used to taking the lead, but also not used having to be so tentative in a situation like this Emily stopped.

"Just say...if you want me to stop" whispered Emily, her lips almost touching Paige's.

Paige took the initiative and lifted her head the rest of the way between their lips. Their lips remained pressed together for a few moments before they slowly pulled away. Despite how tame the lip lock was, both girls could feel their hearts in their throats. Cautiously, Emily shifted to move from the slightly awkward position she was in until her legs were on either side of Paige's hips. She leaned forward once more, her hair forming a curtain around the two girls and her eyes not leaving Paige's. Both girls closed their eyes as their lips connected once again. Carefully, Emily kissed Paige's top lip, then her bottom, not wanting to go too fast. Emily pulled back a bit, just enough so she could talk.

"Is this ok?" she asked.

"Yeah..." breathed Paige.

"But what?" asked Emily, sitting up a little more.

"Don't laugh"

"I wouldn't laugh at you"

"I've never...well, when I kissed you in your car...that was sort of my first kiss...ever"

"Could've fooled me" said Emily with a smile.

She leaned down and placed one more kiss on the other girl's lips before pulling back and going back to laying beside her on the bed. While her whole body was humming from what had just transpired and the tingling in her lips made her want to kiss Paige over and over again, she didn't want to push her too far too soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Just a short update today, I just remembered I have an anthropology midterm on Monday night that I kind of forgot about...whoops. I'll probably update tomorrow while I'm taking a study break, and I promise to try and make the next chapter a little longer!

* * *

Emily slowed her car to a stop in the McCullers' driveway and put it in park. After their exchange in Emily's room they had decided it was probably time to get Paige home before her dad got home from work and started asking questions. Emily shifted in her seat, looking at Paige who was simply staring at her house with a stoic expression.

"I like it better at your place" she whined.

Emily simply chuckled at took Paige's hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"We'll see each other tomorrow at practice and school" she said lightly.

Paige nodded and opened the door, stepping out to put her bags over her shoulder.

"Oh I forgot" she said, ducking her torso back into the car.

She leaned over and kissed Emily softly on the lips.

"Bye" breathed Emily as Paige leaned back out of the car and shut her door.

Paige gave her a shy smile and a wave before making her way into her house. Emily smiled to herself and headed back home. Once she was back in her room she glanced at her nightstand, her phone still untouched from when Paige refused to hand it over. Grinning at the memory, Emily picked up her phone, and looked for the unread message. Her grin lessened slightly when she saw it was from Spencer, her mind immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusions.

**Found NOTHING in the barn, the creep took his laptop with him so no checking that, hope you two are behaving ;) **

Emily let out a breathe she didn't know she was holding and glanced at her clock. It wasn't even 10 o'clock yet, knowing Spencer she'd still be up doing homework. She dialed the number and flopped backwards on her bed as the line began to ring.

"Well well well, look who finally checked their phone" teased Spencer

"Funny, so you guys didn't have any luck?"

"Nothing, my guess is he'd want to keep anything incriminating away from Melissa too, so it probably wouldn't be lying around where she could find it. But I'm also worrying about the fact that we haven't heard from A yet."

"Well they just finished sending Hanna that little message with the exterminator, give A time and things will be back to being our own personal hells again"

"Unfortunately, I think you're right. But I should be finishing up this history paper soon, and while I'd ask how your date went now, I feel like Aria and Hanna would be mad at me for getting the details first, so be prepared to spill tomorrow."

"Sure Spence, Bye"

"Bye Em...although a little bit of a preview about what happened would-"

"BYE Spencer"

"Ugh, bye"

Emily rolled her eyes and ended the call, reaching over and setting her phone back on the table. She quickly showered and got ready for bed before curling up under her covers for the night. As she was first drifting off she heard the front door open and close and the sound of her mother going around the house carried up the stairs and to her ears. With a sigh she rolled over to face the door and within minutes her mother entered the room with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry sweetie, did I wake you up?" she asked, smoothing her daughter's hair down.

"No mom"

"How are you feeling today?"

"Much better"

"Well that's good; I knew the girls would be able to cheer you up"

Pam smiled and kissed her daughter's head before leaving the room. Emily rolled over once again and looked up at the ceiling; she wasn't sure how her mother would react to the fact that while Aria, Spencer and Hanna had cheered her up a bit, it was in fact Paige McCullers who managed to make her heart feel whole again.


	9. Chapter 9

Emily was currently on her way to Spencer's house to meet up with the girls. She had managed to avoid her friends' pestering about what had happened between her and Paige the previous night for the first part of the day, but the three of them had cornered her at lunch and demanded they meet after school. She looked to Aria in the driver's seat and rolled her eyes.

"I could've driven us here" she huffed.

"We didn't want to risk you bolting at the last second"

"Just don't scratch my car"

"Yeah, yeah, lose the pout Em, we've gotta talk about what we did last night too anyways"

With an exaggerated sigh Emily looked out the window. She had only talked to Paige via text, the pair otherwise only sharing looks and glances throughout the day seeing as there was no chance to talk in private. Paige seemed more than OK with what had happened, but Emily wouldn't know for sure until they got to talk face to face. When she looked through the windshield she saw they were already pulling into the driveway. The pair got out of the car and went straight up the stairs and to Spencer's room. Once again her parents were out, and with Melissa and Ian still away there was no risk of their conversation being overheard. Spencer and Hanna sat cross legged on the bed, looking expectantly at Emily as she and Aria dropped their bags and made their way to the bed as well.

"First, let's start with what you guys found out" said Emily quickly before the others could make her go first.

"Fiiiiiine" whined Hanna.

"Look, if Ian is hiding some evidence or proof, he's done a good job at it" started Aria.

"Well yeah, I mean he IS living with Melissa" said Spencer.

"But where else could he have it?" asked Aria.

"My bet is on it being on his laptop, I can't see him keeping any hard evidence like a murder weapon" replied Spencer, her eyebrows furrowing together as she thought.

"So you're saying we're back to square one" sighed Emily, leaning back into the pillows.

"Well we'll get him, but until then, I believe Emily has something she'd like to tell us" said Hanna, sitting up excitedly.

"Guys" said Emily with a pleading look.

"Oh come on, we're dying here" said Aria with a pout.

Spencer and Hanna matched the pout, all three looking at Emily sadly. Emily put her hands over her face, she never could say to her friends when they did that.

"FINE"

All three perked up, Hanna adding in a little clap for effect.

"We warmed up some dinner, did our homework and I drove her home, the end"

"Yeah right" said Spencer pushing lightly on Emily's shoulder.

"Please, I saw those looks you two were giving each other, you were practically undressing one- YOU GUYS SO SLEPT TOGETHER" said Hanna, jumping up and pointing a finger at Emily.

"Wha-NO!"

"Then why are you lying to us?" asked Aria with a raised eyebrow.

"Well we did have dinner and do our homework, but when we were finished we were just lying there and talking and I ended up kissing her, and that went well so we kissed again. I really like her guys, and I didn't want to freak her out so I left it at that, but then when I dropped her off she kissed me goodnight"

At this point Emily had a shy smile on her face as she played with the blanket on the bed, smiling wider the more she remembered about last night. Her friends let out a collective 'aww' and smiled at Emily.

"So are you guys dating now?" asked Aria.

"We didn't really get to talk today, but I don't know. She's not out yet and her dad seems like he'd take it worse than my mom did when I told her."

"Hey, if she likes you she'll figure something out" said Hanna, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder.

Emily nodded her head, silently hoping that Paige did in fact like her enough to figure it out. She pulled out her phone from her pocket, checking for any missed calls or messages she may missed, seeing as her phone had been set to silent. The first message was from her mother, reminding her to come home at a decent time seeing as it was a school night. The second one was from Paige.

**Meet me in Fitz's classroom before practice tomorrow, it's always unlocked **

Emily typed out a reply and looked up to see her friends staring at her, waiting to fill them in.

"Paige wants to talk tomorrow before practice, so Aria, we're borrowing your boyfriend's classroom"

Aria playfully pushed Emily and soon all four friends were messing around, throwing pillows and gossiping.

* * *

Emily woke up extra early the next morning, having told her mother she was leaving early to get some laps done before the rest of the team got there. Once she was in the school she made a quick stop at the locker room, dropping her bag in her locker and touching up her hair that had been teased by the early morning breeze. She cautiously walked down the hallway and slipped into Mr. Fitz's classroom. The sun still hadn't come up yet so it was next to impossible to see around the room, but Emily could see the silhouette of Paige sitting on a desk in the back.

"Hey" said the pair together.

Slowly, Emily made her way to the desk that Paige was perched on, leaning slightly on the chair belonging to the desk ahead of it. The girls had almost half an hour before the rest of the team was going to show up, and Emily hoped that it wouldn't be half an hour spent in silence.

"If I weirded you out or anything..." started Emily.

"You really think that? That night was so important to me" said Paige.

Emily stood up straight, taking her weight off of the back of the chair. She took a step closer to Paige and gently took the other girl's hand in her own, staring at their joint hands for a moment.

"So what does that mean, I mean, about you and me? You don't exactly make a point of talking to me when there are people we know around." she asked quietly, looking back to Paige's eyes.

"I'm fine with people seeing us together, as friends, I'm not ready to have them see us like this though" said Paige, gesturing to their hands, "but I still want us to be more than that".

"I know how hard it is, to tell people I mean, but will you promise me that you'll try when you're ready? I want to be with you, but I don't think I could handle always being your secret"

"Promise" whispered Paige.

Paige gently tugged on the hand that was connected to hers, bringing Emily a step closer to the desk. She brought her free hand to Emily's waist, before letting go of the other girl's hand to do the same with the other. Once Paige slid off the desk to stand up, Emily brought one hand to the red head's cheek and sliding the other one into her hair. Their lips met in a chaste kiss at first, before they both began to move their lips. Carefully, Emily slid her tongue against Paige's bottom lip and it was immediately granted entrance. The need for air soon became overwhelming, causing the girls to part for a moment before Emily started placing soft kisses along Paige's neck.

"Practice...go...have... " breathed Paige.

Emily simply mumbled against her neck before returning to Paige's lips. With one last kiss Emily pulled back smiling.

"NOW, we can go to practice"


End file.
